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THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAIN    GOAT 


THE     ROCKY    MOUNTAIN     GOAT 


By 


MADISON    GRANT 


SECRETARY    OF    THE    NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY 


REPRINTED   FROM   THE    NINTH   ANNUAL  REPORT 

OF   THE 


Jl^eto  got*  Ecological 


NEW    YORK 

OFFICE    OF    THE    SOCIETY,    11    WALL    STREET 
1905 


EARTH 

saBN 

LIBRARY 


•  t\   J      ^COPYRIGHT,    IQOS,   BY  THE 


NEW  YORK  ZOOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 
•     „     •-•"« 


Yo 


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EARTH 

SQBNCES 

L1BRAHY 


PAGE 

TYPICAL  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  COUNTRY.  Frontispiece. 

ROCKY  MOUNTAIN   GOAT  AND  SHEEP     ........     6 

GOAT  COUNTRY ^ 8 

ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  (Dead)    ,     .     .     .     ...     .     .     .     .10 

ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  (Head)    .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .11 

ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  (Mounted  Specimen) 14 

ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  (Mounted  Specimen)     .     .     .     .     .15 

ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  AND  SHEEP  .     .     r~~ 17 

SEVEN  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  KIDS 19 

KIDS  OF  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  AND  SHEEP     . 21 

Two  GOAT  KIDS 23 

MOUNTED  HEAD   (Front) '"... 26 

MOUNTED  HEAD   (Side) 27 

SKULL  OF  GOAT   (Front)    ...........     '.     .  30 

SKULL  OF  GOAT   (Side)     /•....    .     ... 31 


M 


REPRINTED    FROM   THE 

Annual  Hrport  of  tlje  JBeto  gork  ^oolqstcal  H>odet|>. 


THE    ROCKY   MOUNTAIN    GOAT. 

By   MADISON   GRANT. 

THE  white  or  Rocky  Mountain  goat  shares  with  the  musk-ox 
the  honor  of  being  the  least  known  of  the  game  animals  of 
North  America  and  descriptions  of  it  written  even  as  recently 
as  ten  years  ago  are  valueless,  as  in  many  cases  this  animal  is 
confused  with  white  mountain  sheep  and  even  with  deer.  The 
explanation  of  this  lack  of  knowledge  lies  in  the  extremely  re- 
mote and  inaccessible  habitat  of  the  goat,  which  begins  in  the 
northwestern  United  States,  among  the  highest  peaks  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  of  the  coast  ranges  and  extends  north, 
through  British  Columbia,  into  Alaska.  The  material  in  most 
natural  histories,  relating  to  this  animal,  is  scanty  and  based 
on  very  inadequate  information,  since  the  opportunity  to  see 
and  hunt  it  has  not  been  granted  to  many.  In  captivity,  we 
have  had,  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  only  eight  immature  specimens, 
two  in  Boston  in  1899,  two  in  Philadelphia  in  1893,  and  the 
four  now  (1905)  living  in  the  New  York  Zoological  Park.  One 
well  grown  male  is  living  at  this  time  in  the  London  Zoological 
Garden. 

As  a  result  of  this  scarcity  of  direct  knowledge,  many  myths 
have  gathered  around  this  mountain  dweller,  leading,  as  usual 
in  our  North  American  game  animals,  to  an  abundance  of  inap- 
propriate names.  The  name  "goat"  is  objectionable,  but  will 
have  to  stand  until  some  better  term  can  be  found.  The  Stoney 
Indians  in  Alberta  use  the  name  "Waputehk,"  and  in  Chinook, 
the  universal  jargon  of  the  Northwest,  the  goat  is  called  Snow 
Mawitch  (white  deer).  Neither  of  these  terms  are  likely  to  be- 
come common.  It  is  not  a  goat,  nor  even  closely  related  to  them, 
but  is  the  sole  representative  on  this  continent,  of  a  very  aberrant 
group  of  so-called  mountain  antelopes,  known  to  science  as  the 
Rupicaprince,  a  Subfamily  of  the  Bovidce. 

THE  MOUNTAIN  ANTELOPES. 

The  Rupicaprince  comprise  five  widely  scattered  genera,  ex- 
tending from  the  Pyrenees  of  Spain,  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  of 
the  western  United  States,  as  enumerated  below. 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT.  9 

In  western  Europe  we  find  first  the  chamois  (Rupicapra) , 
known  in  the  Spanish  Sierras  and  Pyrenees  as  the  izard,  and  ex- 
tending eastward  through  the  Alps  and  Carpathians  as  far  as  the 
Caucasus.  Throughout  all  this  range  only  one  species  is  recog- 
nized. 

The  next  genus  of  this  group  is  the  goral  (Cemas),  with  four 
species  ranging  throughout  the  Himalayas  and  parts  of  China, 
into  Amurland. 

In  Tibet  we  have  the  third  and  decidedly  most  aberrant  mem- 
ber of  the  Riipicaprlna:,  the  takin  (Budorcas),  the  horns  of  which 
suggest  those  of  the  gnu.  Only  one  species  of  this  genus  is 
known. 

The  fourth,  and  to  Americans  perhaps  the  most  interesting 
Old  World  member  of  this  Subfamily,  is  the  serow  (Namo- 
rhedus),  locally  known  as  the  forest  goat.  This  genus  is  per- 
haps, more  closely  allied  to  Oreamnos  than  any  of  the  preceding 
genera,  and  its  horns  resemble  those  of  the  mountain  goat,  but 
are  shorter  and  thicker.  The  genus  Nccmorhedus  inhabits  the 
Himalayas,  Tibet  and  China  with  outlying  representatives  in 
Burma,  Sumatra,  Formosa  and  Japan  and  it  is  divided  into 
numerous  species.  The  fifth  genus  is  Oreamnos,  the  subject  of 
this  article. 

All  the  members  of  these  genera  resemble  the  goat  in  tooth 
structure,  but  differ  widely  from  them  in  the  position  and  shape 
of  the  horns,  face  glands  and  other  important  details.  The 
whole  group  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  early  off-shoot  of  the 
Bovida,  to  some  extent  intermediate  between  the  goats  and  the 
true  bovine  antelopes.  The  Rupicaprince  must  have  pushed 
north,  with  their  not  distant  ally  the  musk-ox,  at  a  very  early 
time  and  become  adjusted  to  alpine  and  boreal  conditions.  At 
the  close  of  the  glacial  period  many  of  its  members  deserted 
the  low  country  and  retired  to  high  altitudes  so  that  in  some 
instances,  notably  that  of  the  chamois,  we  have  an  example  of 
discontinuous  distribution.  Its  sole  American  representative 
probably  reached  this  continent  by  way  of  the  Bering  Sea  land 
connection,  during  the  middle  Pleistocene,  together  with  the 
other  American  genera  of  the  Boznda. 

GENERIC    CHARACTERS. 

Oreamnos  as  remarked  above,  while  more  closely  related  to 
Namorhedus  than  to  the  other  members  of  the  group,  has  de- 
parted widely  in  structure  from  all  of  its  relatives.  Its  most 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT. 


11 


HEAD  OF  THE  GOAT  SHOWN  ON  THE  OPPOSITE  PAGE. 

striking  character  is  its  almost  pure  white  coat.  This  coloring 
is  in  perfect  harmony  with  an  environment  of  snow  fields,  but  in 
some  parts  of  its  range  it  renders  the  animal  unnecessarily  con- 
spicuous. Until  white  men  appeared  on  the  scene,  it  made  very 
little  difference  to  the  goat  whether  his  enemies  could  see  him  or 
not,  as  his  home  was  beyond  the  reach  of  pumas,  wolves,  and  for 
the  most  part  of  bears  and  until  other  game  became  scarce,  the 
Indians  did  not  hunt  this  inaccessible  peak-dweller  too  closely. 
All  the  types  of  Oreamnos  are  characterized  by  this  white  coat 
and  the  only  exception  is  the  well  authenticated  occurrence  of 
goat  in  the  Selkirks  of  southern  British  Columbia,  with  a  clearly- 
defined  dark  brown  line  extending  along  the  center  of  the  back 
and  terminating  in  an  almost  black  tail.  This  color  variation 


12  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

appears  to  be  fixed  in  both  the  summer  and  winter  pelage,  as 
the  markings  were  found  on  the  skins  of  goats  killed  both  in 
July  and  November.  Reports  of  goat  with  these  characters  are 
widespread  along  the  upper  Columbia  River,  so  that  it  would 
seem  as  though  toward  the  southern  limit  of  its  range,  a  color 
variation  were  just  beginning  to  appear.  In  addition  to  its  uni- 
formly white  color,  Oreamnos  differs  from  the  serow  in  the  promi- 
nence of  its  eye  sockets,  in  the  elongated  shape  of  the  muzzle 
and  face,  in  the  position  and  shape  of  the  horns  and  more  par- 
ticularly in  the  cannon  bones,  which  are  exceptionally  short  and 
stout.  In  this  latter  respect  Oreamnos  departs  widely  from  all 
the  other  members  of  the  Rupicaprince.  The  most  striking  char- 
acter however,  of  Oreamnos,  is  the  presence,  situated  in  a  half 
circle  immediately  behind  each  horn,  of  a  large,  black  scent- 
gland,  as  large  as  half  an  orange.  This  gland  is  sometimes  so 
tough  as  to  wear  deeply  into  the  base  of  the  horn.  A  horn 
worn  away  in  this  manner  was  secured  by  the  writer  in  British 
Columbia. 

The  comparatively  short  duration  of  time  since  the  appearance 
of  Oreamnos  in  America  and  the  somewhat  uniform  character 
of  its  habitat,  probably  account  for  the  absence  of  much  type 
variation. 

TYPES    OF    OREAMNOS. 

The  first  specimens  of  the  mountain  goat  to  be  described,  came 
from  the  Cascade  Mountains  on  the  Columbia  River  in  Oregon 
and  of  course  now  stand  as  the  type  of  Oreamnos  montanus,  hav- 
ing been  first  described  by  Rafinesque  in  1817.  This  subspecies  is 
intermediate  in  size  between  the  eastern  form  of  American  goat, 
O.m.missonlce,  and  the  large  Canadian  O.m.columbianus,  and,  is 
characterized  by  a  short  but  broad  skull.  The  true  Oreamnos 
montanus  extends  from  about  the  Canadian  boundary,  south 
through  Washington  into  Oregon.  In  the  '70*5  a  considerable 
number  were  found  on  Mt.  Ranier  in  Washington,  and  they  still 
occur  on  Mt.  Baker  to  the  northward.  It  is  absent,  however, 
from  the  Olympic  Mountains,  from  Vancouver  Island  and  from 
the  southern  Cascades  in  Oregon.  Nothing  is  known  of  the 
northern  limits  of  this  subspecies,  but  it  probably  does  not  extend 
very  far  into  British  Columbia,  merging  at  that  point  into  O.tn. 
columbianus.  The  most  southerly  Oregon  records  that  the  writer 
has  been  able  to  obtain  is  Mt.  Jefferson  in  that  State,  latitude 
44°  40'  north,  in  approximately  the  same  latitude  as  the  Sawtooth 
Mountains  in  Idaho. 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT.  13 

Probably  the  only  place  where  the  goat  exists  to-day  in  the 
State  of  Oregon  is  the  mountains  in  Wallowa  County,  in  the 
extreme  northeast  corner  of  the  State,  and  the  animals  from  that 
locality  are  probably  to  be  referred  to  O.m.tnissoulce.  They  have 
long  since  vanished  from  Mt.  Hood  and  from  the  other  peaks  in 
the  western  part  of  the  State,  where  they  once  abounded.  In  the 
State  of  Washington  they  exist  in  reduced  numbers  from  the 
Canadian  boundary  as  far  south  as  Mt.  Adams,  although  at 
the  latter  point  they  are  possibly  now  extinct.  Throughout  the 
State  the  frequency  of  names,  such  as  "goat  rocks,"  "goat  paths," 
"goat  buttes"  and  "goat  creeks,"  testify  to  their  early  abundance, 
and  they  were  formerly  shot  from  the  decks  of  steamers  on  Lake 
Chelan  by  hunters  who  took  a  wanton  delight  in  seeing  the 
wounded  animals  fall  down  the  precipitous  banks. 

In  the  Mt.  Rainier  Forest  Reserve  they  are  found  in  small 
numbers.  In  the  isolated  volcanic  peaks  along  the  coast  the  goat 
is  too  easily  reached  to  be  allowed  to  survive,  and  it  is  probable 
that  before  many  years  the  interesting  animal  will  be  entirely 
exterminated  in  the  United  States  except  in  the  main  Rockies. 

The  Alaskan  form,  at  the  extreme  western  limit  of  the  genus, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Mt.  St.  Elias  Alps  and  the  Cop- 
per River,  was  described  by  Dr.  D.  G.  Elliot,  in  1900,  as  a  sec- 
ond and  valid  species,  under  the  name  of  Oreamnos  kennedyi. 
It  is  strongly  characterized  by  the  lyrate  shape  of  the  horns  and 
certain  anatomical  features. 

These  two  were  the  only  described  forms,  until  1904,  when 
the  attention  of  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen,  of  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  was  called  by  the  writer  to  the  great  difference 
in  bulk  of  body  and  size  of  horns  of  the  goat  of  British  Colum- 
bia, and  those  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains  in  Montana.  Upon 
comparing  a  number  of  specimens  from  the  Cascade  Mountains, 
the  type  locality  of  Oreamnos  montanus,  from  the  Bitter  Root 
Mountains  of  Montana  and  Idaho,  from  the  main  Rockies  in 
southern  British  Columbia  and  from  the  Schesley  Mountains  of 
northern  British  Columbia,  it  was  found  that  all  these  specimens 
could  be  divided  into  three  easily  distinguishable  groups  each  of 
subspecific  rank. 

The  skulls  of  animals  killed  in  the  Schesley  Mountains  by 
Andrew  J.  Stone  in  1903,  were  found  to  be  in  all  respects  iden- 
tical with  those  killed  by  the  writer  and  Mr.  Charles  Arthur 
Moore,  Jr.,  in  the  main  Rockies,  near  the  Columbia  River  the 
following  year.  Animals  from  these  districts  were  character- 
ized by  great  bulk  and  by  a  long  and  relatively  narrow  skull. 


ROCKY    MOUNTAIN    GOAT 

KILLED   IN   SPILI.AMACHENE   VALLEY,   SOUTH   OF  GOLDEN,   BRITISH   COLUMBIA,    NOVEMBER.    IQO3 

Total  length  with  tail,  following  convolutions  of  body,  73  inches ;  tail,  7  inches ;  hind  foot,  12  inches 

height  at  shoulders,  41  inches ;  measurements  taken  after  mounting.     On  exhibition  in  the 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History. 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT. 


15 


SIDE    VIEW    OF    SPECIMEN    SHOWN    ON    OPPOSITE    PAGE. 

This  was  the  third  type  described  and  it  received  from  Dr.  Allen 
the  name  of  O.m.columbianus.  This  subspecies  probably  extends 
from  the  American  border  up  through  the  Canadian  Rockies,  to 
the  northern  limits  of  goat  in  that  region,  which  is  west  of  the 
^Mackenzie  River  at  about  north  latitude  63°  30'.  The  goat  in 
the  northern  Rockies,  may  possibly  be  found  to  be  specifically  dis- 
tinct from  the  goat  on  the  coast  of  southern  Alaska. 

In  the  midst  of  the  distributional  area  of  this  large  subspecies 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Big  Bend  of  the  Columbia  River,  a  very 
small  goat  is  found.  This  animal,  upon  further  investigation, 
may  prove  interesting.  At  present,  however,  all  the  Canadian 
goats  must  be  provisionally  assigned  to  O.m.columbianus. 

A  curious  break  in  the  range  of  this  subspecies  is  found  just 
north  of  the  Liard  River,  where,  according  to  no  less  an  author- 


16  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

ity  than  Andrew  J.  Stone,  no  goat  are  found  for  a  distance  of 
over  a  hundred  miles.  Probably  the  local  topography,  of  which 
we  have  no  knowledge,  will  explain  the  absence  of  goat  from 
this  territory.  No  goat  have  yet  been  found  north  of  the  Yukon 
River. 

O.m.columbianus  abounds  along  the  coast  ranges  of  British 
Columbia,  and  extends  into  Alaska,  probably  merging  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Copper  River  into  O.  kennedyi,  the  western- 
most member  of  the  genus.  The  extreme  western  record  for 
goat  is  the  Matanuska  River,  not  far  from  the  head  of  Cook 
Inlet.  Horns  from  this  locality,  however,  do  not  show  the  char- 
acteristics of  Kennedy's  goat.  No  goat  are  reported  in  the  vicinity 
of  Mt.  McKinley,  but  they  are  found  along  the  Copper  River  for 
a  considerable  distance  inland,  and  there  is  some  evidence  of  their 
occurrence  on  the  north  side  of  Mt.  St.  Elias.  It  may  be  well 
to  remark  here  that  while  O.  kennedyi  is  a  valid  species,  founded 
on  abundant  material,  no  living  specimens  have  been  seen  by  a 
white  man  so  far  as  is  known,  nor  have  we  any  information  con- 
cerning the  limits  of  its  distribution.  O.m.columbianus  is  by  far 
the  largest  and  handsomest  member  of  the  genus,  unless  O.  ken- 
nedyi proves  on  further  investigation,  to  excel  in  these  respects. 
It  is,  therefore,  surprising  that  the  great  differences  in  size  and 
other  characteristics,  which  distinguish  this  type  from  the  goat  in 
the  United  States  have  not  been  previously  recognized. 

The  animals  south  of  the  Canadian  border  and  still  in  the 
main  range  of  the  Rockies,  upon  comparison  with  the  preceding 
types,  were  found  to  be  much  smaller,  in  fact  the  smallest  of  all 
the  subspecies  and  were  characterized  by  shorter  but  still  rela- 
tively narrow  skulls.  The  specimens  of  this  type  under  consid- 
eration having  been  killed  in  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  the  sub- 
specific  name  of  O.m.missoulcz  was  given  them  by  Dr.  Allen. 
This  is  the  fourth  and  last  type  to  be  described,  although  these 
animals  from  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains  were  the  first  goat 
known  to  transcontinental  explorers.  This  is  the  goat  usually 
hunted  by  American  sportsmen  and  its  range  probably  extends 
from  the  southeastern  limits  of  the  genus  in  Montana  and  Idaho 
to  the  Canadian  border,  where  like  O.  montanns  it  passes  imper- 
ceptibly into  O.m.columbianus.  The  extreme  southerly  limit  of 
the  goat  in  the  Rockies  is  the  Sawtooth  Mountains  and  the  Sal- 
mon River  in  Idaho.  It  does  not  reach  the  Tetons,  in  Wyoming, 
nor  does  it  occur  in  the  Yellowstone  Park.  The  question  of  its 
absence  in  these  localities  will  be  discussed  later  in  this  paper. 

To  sum  up,  the  two  American  subspecies  are  smaller  than  their 


WHITE  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  AND  MOUNTAIN    SHEEP 

IN   THE   NEW   YORK    ZOOLOGICAL   PARK. 


1 


WHITE   MOUNTAIN  GOAT  AND   MOUNTAIN  SHEEP 

IN   THE   NEW   YORK   ZOOLOGICAL    PARK 


18  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

Canadian  relatives  and  the  type  from  the  Cascade  Mountains 
possesses  a  broad  skull,  in  direct  contrast  to  the  narrow  skulls  of 
all  other  goats,  both  American  and  Canadian. 

CAUSES    GOVERNING    DISTRIBUTION. 

The  distribution  of  the  genus  is  limited  by  the  character  of 
the  mountain  ranges,  rather  than  any  other  consideration,  and 
too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  on  the  fact,  that  of  all  our 
North  American  animals  the  white  goat  is  the  only  one  abso- 
lutely confined  to  precipitous  peaks  and  ridges,  which  even  the 
mountain  sheep  seldom  approach. 

The  extreme  north  and  south  ranges  of  Oreamnos  in  the  main 
Rockies  present  several  problems  of  great  interest.  The  south- 
ern limit  is  clearly  marked  by  a  change  in  the  formation  and 
ruggedness  of  the  mountains  themselves,  which,  together  with 
climatic  conditions,  and  the  lack  of  water  in  summer  on  the 
mountain  tops,  are  sufficient  to  account  for  the  absence  of  these 
animals  much  south  of  their  present  limit.  A  very  different 
condition  prevails  in  the  north.  At  the  extreme  northern  limit 
which  is  about  63°  30',  the  mountains  begin  to  lose  their  height 
but  are  still  of  considerable  size  and  quite  rugged  enough 
to  provide  a  suitable  home  for  Oreamnos.  White  sheep  are 
found  all  through  these  mountains,  up  to  the  very  coast  of  the 
Arctic  Ocean  and  westward  through  the  Romanzoff  Mountains  in 
northern  Alaska.  These  sheep  are  certainly  not  better  equipped 
to  resist  arctic  cold  than  are  the  goat,  so  we  must  seek  for  some 
cause  other  than  climatic  or  topographical  conditions.  There 
must  be  some  unknown  and  unfavorable  condition  of  food  supply 
which  prevents  Oreamnos  from  reaching  the  extreme  north.  This 
is  perhaps  the  most  interesting  and  difficult  of  the  problems  affect- 
ing the  distribution  of  the  genus. 

Along  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States  the  mountains  are 
not  sufficiently  precipitous  to  attract  the  goat,  and  consequently 
that  animal  is  found  only  at  some  distance  inland,  but  in  north- 
western British  Columbia  and  southern  Alaska,  the  Rockies  ap- 
proach the  coast  in  stupendous  chains,  which  swing  westward 
through  the  Mt.  St.  Elias  range.  Through  all  this  country  the 
goat  occupies  the  coast  region  from  Prince  William  Sound  south 
nearly  to  the  American  border.  They  are  not  found  in  any  of 
the  adjacent  islands. 

Along  these  coast  ranges  goat  are  much  more  numerous  than 
in  the  main  Rockies,  owing  probably  to  the  presence  of  forests 


SEVEN    MOUNTAIN    GOAT    KIDS 

CAPTURED    NEAR   BANFF,    ALBERTA,    IQO4,    FOR    THE    NEW   YORK    ZOOLOGICAL   SOCIETY. 


20  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

high  up  in  the  mountains  and  in  close  contact  with  the  cliffs 
where  the  goat  lives,  together  with  a  copious  supply  of  water. 
At  all  events  the  conditions  are  certainly  favorable.  North  of 
Skagway  goat  do  not  extend  inland  much  beyond  the  summit  of 
the  coast  range,  and  do  not  again  occur  until  the  main  Rockies 
are  reached,  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  east.  The  goat  in  these 
eastern  mountains  are,  in  all  likelihood,  specifically  distinct  from 
the  coast  goat,  as  practically  all  the  other  mammals  of  these  two 
distinct  faunal  areas  are  separate  species. 

LEGENDARY   DISTRIBUTION. 

The  writer  has  carefully  traced  out  the  legends  regarding  the 
occurrence  of  goat  in  Colorado,  Utah,  and  California.  There 
are  persistent  stories  about  the  existence  of  white  goat  in  Colo- 
rado, which,  when  investigated  seem  to  have  their  origin  in  some 
domestic  goat  which  are  known  to  have  escaped  from  captivity. 
It  is,  however,  a  certainty  that  Oreamnos  has  not  existed  in 
Colorado  since  the  arrival  of  the  white  man,  and  there  is  no 
proof  of  its  previous  existence  there.  This  statement  is  made 
after  a  full  examination  of  the  evidence. 

The  purpose  of  this  paper  has  been  to  gather  and  summarize  the 
known  facts  about  this  interesting  animal  and  it  has  been  neces- 
sary to  discard  a  large  amount  of  data  contained  in  the  literature 
of  the  subject.  Statements  by  certain  writers  regarding  the  ex- 
istence of  the  goat  in  Wyoming,  Colorado,  California,  and  even 
New  Mexico,  are  extremely  misleading.  It  is  positively  known 
that  no  goat  have  ever  existed  on  Mt.  Shasta,  although  this 
mountain  has  been  a  favorite  locality  for  stories  about  mountain 
goat  and  the  mythical  ibex.  The  origin  of  these  fables  is  easily 
traced  to  the  former  existence  on  Mt.  Shasta  of  mountain 
sheep,  the  horns  and  bones  of  which  are  still  occasionally  found 
there.  The  straight  horns  of  the  mountain  sheep  ewe  are  proba- 
bly responsible  for  most  of  these  legends.  It  is  bad  enough  to 
suggest  the  occurrence  of  goat  on  Mt.  Shasta,  but  it  is  utterly 
absurd  to  assert  their  existence  on  Mt.  Whitney,  300  miles 
farther  south,  and  it  is  still  worse  to  include  in  the  range  of  the 
goat  New  Mexico  or  the  barren  coast  mountains  of  southern 
California.* 

The  above  examples  will  suffice  to  show  the  loose  manner  in 

*See  "Sport  and  Life  in  Western  America  and  British  Columbia,"  by  A.  W. 
Bailli  -Grohman,  page  117,  London,  1900,  and  "The  Wilderness^Hunter,"  page 
130,  by  Theodore  Roosevelt. 


22  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

which  this  subject  has  been  treated  by  writers  who  have  not 
sifted  the  evidence  sufficiently. 

Within  the  United  States  the  mountain  goat  is  only  found  in 
Idaho,  western  Montana,  Washington,  and  Oregon.  There  is 
no  evidence  whatever  of  the  white  goat  having  existed  in  Wyo- 
ming. In  examining  the  rumors  respecting  the  occurrence  of  goat 
one  must  remember  that  only  a  few  years  ago  very  little  was 
known  about  this  animal,  and  few  people  had  seen  it.  In  the 
south,  escaped  domestic  goat  and  old  mountain  sheep  ewes  with 
bleached  coats  and  straight  horns,  have  probably  been  the  basis 
of  many  such  stories.  In  some  places  such  animals  have  been 
mistaken  for  white  goat  and  elsewhere,  notably  in  Alaska,  for 
the  legendary  ibex.  Until  the  discovery  and  description  of  Ball's 
white  sheep,  in  1884,  all  white  animals  in  the  north  were  called 
goat  and  white  mountain  sheep  meat  is  sold  to-day  in  Dawson 
City  restaurants  under  that  name. 

There  is  no  reason  whatever  to  believe  that  the  limits  of  the 
distribution  of  the  white  goat  were  ever  much  different  from 
what  they  are  now,  except  in  outlying  localities  along  their  south- 
ern limits.  The  center  of  the  greatest  abundance  of  goat  appears 
to  be  in  the  coast  ranges  in  British  Columbia  and  southern 
Alaska  and  it  is  here  that  they  are  found  low  down  the  moun- 
tain sides  and  often  close  to  salt  water. 


COMPARISON    WITH    SHEEP. 

It  is  due  to  ignorance  of  the  character  of  the  country  inhab- 
ited by  mountain  goat  that  so  much  has  been  written  about  an 
alleged  antipathy  between  Oreamnos  and  the  mountain  sheep.  It 
is  singular  that  writers  should  go  so  far  afield  as  to  conjure  up 
an  imaginary  mutual  hatred  to  account  for  the  undoubted  fact 
that  sheep  and  goat  seldom  live  together.  In  some  places,  how- 
ever, notably  the  Schesley  Mountains,  sheep  and  goat  can  be 
found  on  the  same  mountain  side.  Sheep  belong  to  the  rugged 
hills  and  lower  slopes  and  at  one  time  ranged  far  eastward  into 
the  plains  wherever  the  character  of  the  country  was  at  all  rough, 
as  in  the  Black  Hills  and  in  the  Bad  Lands  of  the  upper  Missouri. 

The  sheep  is  furthermore,  a  grass-eating  animal,  while  the 
goat  is  a  browser,  finding  his  food  mainly  on  the  buds  and  twigs 
of  the  forests  that  grow  to  the  very  foot  of  the  goat  rocks.  All 
through  the  goat  country  occur  patches  of  forest  and  it  is  there 
that  the  goat  is  found,  between  timber-line  and  the  snow  fields. 
So  far  as  we  know  the  only  grazing  done  by  the  goat,  beyond 


24  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

nibbling  at  small  plants,  is  on  the  slides  when  the  grass  first 
appears  and  it  is  probable  that  to  this  habit  the  greatest  mortal- 
ity of  this  animal  is  due,  as  many  are  killed  each  spring  by  the 
avalanches  on  these  snow  slides. 

The  sheep  is  an  active,  wary  and  fleet-footed  animal,  fully  as 
well  equipped  as  the  deer  to  escape  by  agility  from  its  enemies 
and  is  not  dependent  for  safety  on  a  refuge  beyond  the  reach  of 
other  animals.  The  goat  on  the  other  hand,  is  heavy,  powerful, 
clumsy,  slow  moving  and  somewhat  stupid  and  does  not  dare  to 
venture  very  far  from  its  inaccessible  rocks.  It  thrives  among 
precipitous  cliffs,  which  are  everywhere  known  among  hunters 
as  "goat  rocks"  and  are  recognizable  as  such  at  a  glance. 

LOCAL   DISTRIBUTION. 

In  a  mountainous  country  it  is  perfectly  easy  to  say  where  goat 
are  to  be  found,  if  there  are  any  in  the  neighborhood.  They  de- 
scend, of  course,  into  the  upper  limits  of  the  forests,  but  always 
keep  near  to  cliffs  to  which  they  can  retire  when  attacked.  Some- 
times swim  rivers  and  have  been  killed  while  crossing  the  Stickene 
far  into  the  forests.  Salt-licks  have  been  found  in  the  hillsides, 
where  great  holes  have  been  eaten  out  by  these  animals.  The 
trails  which  lead  to  some  of  the  licks  in  British  Columbia  are 
worn  so  deeply  as  to  resemble  buffalo  trails.  Goat  pass  through 
the  forests  and  lower  slopes  of  the  mountains  in  moving  from  one 
locality  to  another,  but  this  of  course,  is  exceptional.  They  some- 
times swim  rivers  and  have  been  killed  while  crossing  the  Stickine 
River  in  British  Columbia,  a  wide  and  rapid  stream. 

So  complete  is  the  protection  the  goat  finds  in  broken  rocks 
and  precipices,  that  they  are  practically  out  of  danger  from  any 
animal  approaching  from  below,  except  bear,  which  frequently 
lie  in  wait  for  them  and  occasionally  capture  an  unwary  indi- 
vidual. The  eagles  take  a  very  heavy  toll  from  the  young  goat 
in  the  spring. 

The  difficulty  of  reaching  the  mountain  tops  is,  of  course,  a 
protection  against  man,  but  the  conspicuous  color  and  the  slow 
movements  of  the  animal  make  it  a  comparatively  easy  victim 
when  once  reached  by  hard  climbing. 

WATER   SUPPLY. 

The  question  of  water  supply  on  the  mountains  inhabited  by 
goat  has  a  most  important  bearing  on  the  distribution  of  the  ani- 
mal. In  a  large  portion  of  the  southern  range  of  the  goat,  little 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT.  25 

or  no  water  is  found  from  August  to  October,  except  what  is 
furnished  by  such  snow  fields  as  persist  throughout  the  year.  All 
other  animals  can,  during  the  dry  season,  venture  down  to  the 
valleys  and  canons  for  water,  but  the  goat  seldom  leaves  the  rocks, 
even  for  water,  relying  on  the  snow  of  the  mountain  tops. 

This  fact  alone,  I  believe,  is  sufficient  to  account  for  the  absence 
of  the  goat,  so  often  commented  on  by  hunters,  in  many  portions 
of  its  range,  where  other  conditions  appear  to  be  entirely  suitable. 
In  southern  British  Columbia  the  great  river  valleys,  such  as 
those  of  the  Kootenay,  the  Columbia  and  the  Beaver,  run  almost 
north  and  south,  and  prevent  communication  from  east  to  west 
between  the  goat  inhabiting  the  adjacent  mountains,  while  these 
same  valleys  offer  no  difficulties  to  the  crossing  of  sheep  and 
other  large  animals.  Farther  north  in  the  Stickine  country  wide 
valleys  are  sometimes  crossed. 

The  presence  or  absence  of  water  on  the  higher  ridges,  taken 
together  with  the  fact  that  the  goat  is  not  a  very  restless* or 
migratory  animal,  accounts  for  many  of  the  anomalies  that  are 
observed  in  its  distribution.  It  is  probable  that  in  the  course  of 
its  life  the  goat  ranges  over  a  smaller  territory  than  any  other 
of  our  game  animals  and  unless  seriously  disturbed  does  not 
venture  far  from  its  native  haunts  as  long  as  the  food  supply 
lasts.  They  can  usually  be  found  day  after  day  on  the  same 
spot  and  goat  have  been  watched,  through  glasses,  which  ap- 
parently scarcely  moved  for  days  at  a  time.  Of  course,  in  such 
a  spot,  food  and  water  must  be  plentiful,  and  no  danger  threat- 
ening. 

Along  the  Columbia  River  goat  have  been  sometimes  observed 
to  get  into  positions  on  the  face  of  the  cliffs,  from  which  they 
apparently  could  not  escape.  In  spite  of  their  great  strength 
and  climbing  ability,  their  home  must  be  an  exceptionally  dan- 
gerous one  and  it  is  probable  that  many  lose  their  lives  through 
accidents. 

In  British  Columbia,  during  the  early  summer,  the  streams 
from  the  melting  snow  on  the  mountain  tops  are  found  in  every 
draw  and  gulch.  During  this  season  small  bands  of  females  and 
kids,  or  solitary  males,  are  scattered  everywhere  in  favorable 
localities,  from  the  upper  timber  to  the  summits  of  the  moun- 
tains. As  the  season  advances  however  and  the  snow-fed  streams 
dry  up,  the  only  water  available  is  found  in  the  larger  basins 
where  the  snow  has  accumulated  in  large  quantities.  These 
basins  become  the  feeding  ground  of  the  goat  and  the  rest  of 
the  mountain  side  is  deserted,  except  for  an  occasional  individual 


FRONT    VIEW    OF    MOUNTED    HEAD    OF    GOAT    SHOWN    ON    PAGE 

PROPERTY   OF   MADISON   GRANT. 

On  exhibition  in  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT. 


27 


SIDE    VIEW    OF    HEAD    SHOWN    ON    THE    OPPOSITE    PAGE. 

traveling  along  the  summit  from  one  such  feeding  ground  to 
another,  or  during  the  autumn  rutting  season,  when  both  sexes 
are  almost  constantly  on  the  move.  Connecting  two  favorite 
feeding  grounds  in  the  Palliser  Rockies  was  found,  in  1903,  a 


28  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

well  beaten  path  along  the  summit-ridge,   passing  close  to  the 
snow  fields  and  showing  constant  usage. 


WINTER    RANGES. 

In  winter  the  goat  suffers  from  the  severity  of  the  storms  on 
the  mountain  tops  and  the  limit  of  its  increase  is,  in  the  long  run, 
dependent  on  the  food  supply  available  during  this  season.  This 
is  also  true  of  most  of  our  large  animals  and  the  elimination  of 
the  weak  takes  place  during  the  terrible  blizzards  of  winter  and 
early  spring. 

In  much  of  the  southern  range  of  the  goat  the  use  of  the 
larger  valleys  for  farming  has  undoubtedly  interfered  seriously 
with  their  lower  feeding  grounds.  While  the  loss  of  these  winter 
ranges  is  more  serious  for  other  game,  even  the  goat  feels  the 
approach  of  civilization.  The  high  valleys,  however,  still  remain 
untouched  and  a  certain  number  of  hardy  individuals  will  winter 
successfully  in  close  proximity  to  settlements  if  not  too  much 
hunted.  This  is  notably  the  case  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  where 
goat  are  often  found  within  sight  of  the  town  of  Hamilton, 
Montana. 

In  winter  the  question  of  water  supply  is,  of  course,  eliminated 
and  at  this  season  many  ranges  are  well  stocked  with  goat  which, 
in  summer,  are  deserted  on  account  of  lack  of  water.  The  goat 
travels  so  slowly  that,  aside  from  the  danger  of  venturing  far 
from  the  rocks,  long  daily  journeys  to  and  from  a  feeding  ground 
are  quite  impossible. 

As  to  food  supply,  we  are  apt  to  think  of  the  mountain  tops 
as  barren  in  comparison  with  the  valleys ;  but  in  a  very  mountain- 
ous region,  such  as  British  Columbia,  the  reverse  is  often  true. 
On  the  higher  mountain  slopes  and  ridges  are  to  be  found  the 
best  pasturage  and  the  most  sunny  resting  places.  The  valleys 
receive  the  sun  for  a  much  shorter  portion  of  the  day  than  do  the 
higher  ridges  and  while  the  mountain  tops  are  above  the  fogs, 
mists  and  clouds  often  darken  the  low  country.  It  is  noticeable 
that  domestic  cattle,  sheep  and  horses  in  a  mountainous  country, 
are  very  partial  to  the  high  lands,  seldom  remaining  voluntarily 
in  the  valleys  and  river  bottoms.  In  such  a  country  the  first  im- 
pulse of  a  grazing  animal  is  to  climb  high.  Anyone  who  has 
tried  to  hunt  horses  which  have  strayed  from  camp,  is  apt  to 
be  familiar  with  this  habit. 

It  is  the  inaccessible  character  of  the  country  inhabited  by  the 
goat  and  not  his  wariness  or  agility,  which  has  made  goat  hunt- 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT.  29 

ing  a  test  of  sportsmanship.  Only  those  sound  of  wind  and  limb 
can  venture  after  Orearnnos.  The  first  rule  in  goat  hunting  is 
to  go  to  the  highest  point  that  can  be  found  and  this  point  is 
apt  to  be  very  high. 

HABITS. 

The  sight  of  a  man  does  not  seriously  disturb  a  goat  and  it 
seems  to  be  of  indifferent  power  of  vision.  Sounds  affect  it  even 
less.  The  constant  falling  of  rocks  and  stones  and  the  rumble 
and  breaking  up  of  the  glaciers,  close  to  which  it  finds  its  home, 
has  led  the  goat  to  distrust  the  warning  of  its  ears.  Shouting  at 
a  goat  only  arouses  a  slight  curiosity  and  the  report  of  a  rifle 
has  scarcely  more  effect.  The  hunter  may  sometimes  stand  for 
an  hour  in  plain  view  of  a  goat  without  disturbing  it,  but  its 
sense  of  smell  is  highly  developed  and  the  slightest  trace  of  human 
scent  will  alarm  it. 

These  characters,  together  with  confidence  in  the  inaccessible 
nature  of  its  habitat,  born  of  long  experience  with  animals  other 
than  man,  have  all  combined  to  give  the  goat  its  reputation 
for  stupidity.  It  probably  is  stupid,  but  less  so  than  would 
appear  to  those  accustomed  to  the  nervousness  of  other  game  ani- 
mals. The  goat,  like  the  skunk,  has  a  serene  reliance  in  its 
ability  to  protect  itself  and  is  accustomed  to  gaze  with  indiffer- 
ence at  enemies  who  threaten  it  from  below.  The  large  males 
are  not  lacking  in  bravery  and  will  savagely  fight  off  a  dog  when 
attacked.  Stories  are  told  of  wounded  goat  attacking  man  when 
cornered,  but  most  of  the  danger  to  the  hunter  lies  in  missing  a 
foothold,  or  in  the  stones  rolled  down  from  above  by  a  fleeing 
animal. 

Goat  are  marvelously  tough  and  can  carry  more  lead  even 
than  a  grizzly.  It  sometimes  seems  almost  impossible  to  kill 
them  and  in  some  cases  when  hopelessly  wounded,  they  show  a 
tendency  to  throw  themselves  from  a  cliff.  That  this  is  a  deliber- 
ate act  on  their  part  is  generally  believed  by  goat  hunters,  but  it 
is  doubtful  whether  it  is  more  than  a  last  desperate  effort  to  get 
out  of  harm's  way. 

Goat,  like  moose,  are  inclined  to  be  solitary,  but  are  often 
found  in  small  family  groups.  They  occasionally  assemble  in 
larger  numbers  in  some  favorite  feeding  ground,  as  many  as 
twenty-seven  having  been  seen  together. 


SKULL    OF   GOAT 

KILLED  BY  MADISON  GRANT,    SEPTEMBER,    1903, 

Main  Rocky  Mountains,  east  side  of  Columbia  River,  south  of  Golden,  British  Columbia.     Measure, 
ments  in  inches  :  Right  horn,  loj  inches ;  left,  lofg  inches ;  spread  of  horns,  4!  inches. 
These  measurements  are  the  largest  on  record,  with  a  known  history.    Same 
specimen  as  on  pages  26  and  27. 


SIDE    VTEW    OF    SKULL    SHOWN     ON    THE    OPPOSITE   PAGE- 


32  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

WEIGHT  AND  SIZE. 

The  strength  of  the  goat  is  enormous  and  while  its  weight  is 
far  greater  than  one  would  at  first  suppose,  it  is  a  matter  about 
which  we  have  little  definite  information.  An  average  specimen 
from  the  Cascade  Mountains  appears  to  weigh  about  150  pounds. 
A  six-year-old  goat  killed  near  Skagway,  Alaska,  showed  an 
actual  weight  of  329  pounds.  A  much  smaller  animal  killed  at 
the  same  time  and  probably  a  female,  weighed  250  pounds. 
Large  goat  from  the  main  Rockies,  in  British  Columbia  and 
Schesley  Mountains,  have  been  estimated  to  weigh  as  high  as 
350  and  400  pounds.  Mr.  Baillie-Grohman  publishes  an  account 
of  a  full  grown  male  goat  captured  near  Deerlodge,  Montana, 
which  was  weighed  after  its  capture  and  "  was  found  to  turn  the 
scales  at  480  pounds !  "  This,  however,  must  be  an  error. 

The  size  of  the  goat  is  emphasized  by  the  long  and  shaggy 
coat,  which  at  the  shoulders  rises  in  a  hump.  This,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  low-carried  head,  gives  the  animal  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  pigmy  bison.  Careful  measurements  of  goat  are 
hard  to  obtain,  but  authentic  figures  which  were  taken  by  Mr. 
Stone,  of  four  goat  killed  in  August,  1902,  in  the  Schesley  Moun- 
tains, British  Columbia,  are  to  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  article. 


HORNS.* 

The  horns  of  the  female  are  slightly  longer  and  much  more 
slender  than  those  of  the  male.  A  little  over  eleven  inches  ap- 
pears to  be  the  extreme  limit  of  horns  for  the  male.  The  long- 
est horns  known  are  from  British  Columbia,  attaining  a  length 
of  something  over  ten  inches  up  to  an  extreme  measurement  of 
eleven  and  one-half,  which  appears  to  be  the  record.  The  horns 
from  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains  average  at  least  an  inch  shorter, 
as  do  those  from  the  coast  ranges  in  the  United  States.  Any 
horn  measuring  over  nine  inches  is  to  be  considered  of  good  size 
and  anything  over  ten  inches  is  very  exceptional.  All  measure- 
ments of  horns  and  antlers  are  subject  to  considerable  variation, 
owing  to  the  material  of  the  tape  and  zeal  of  the  man  holding  it 
and  this  must  be  taken  into  consideration  in  the  measurements 
of  record  horns.  In  the  measurement  of  the  basal  girth  of  sheep 
horns  a  variation  of  as  much  as  an  inch  has  been  found  to  occur 
in  the  recorded  size  of  the  same  horn  taken  by  different  persons, 
all  quite  conscientious  in  their  efforts  to  be  accurate. 

*  Measurements  of  horns  are  given  at  the  end  of  this  paper. 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT.  33 

PROTECTION. 

The  mountain  goat  has  probably  a  better  chance  of  survival  in  a 
wild  state  than  any  other  American  game  animal,  except  possibly 
the  Virginia  deer.  It  is  protected  even  from  man  by  the  extreme 
ruggedness  of  its  mountain  habitat  and  although  it  will  prob- 
ably be  exterminated  in  certain  localities,  if  given  a  moderate 
amount  of  protection  it  can  hold  its  own  throughout  most  of  its 
range.  Its  history  will  probably  be  like  that  of  the  chamois  in 
Europe,  as  the  country  grows  more  populated. 

In  some  localities  it  is  in  great  need  of  protection.  In  southern 
British  Columbia,  the  Indians,  who  are  not  amenable  to  the  laws 
governing  the  white  man,  but  are  protected  by  treaty  rights 
secured  by  the  Dominion  government,  kill  right  and  left  with 
impunity.  In  Canada,  even  more  than  in  the  United  States, 
solicitude  for  the  noble  red  man  works  great  injury  to  all  our 
game  animals.  In  the  early  days,  from  motives  of  self-interest, 
the  Indian  may  have  been  moderate  in  his  killing,  but,  having 
abandoned  his  archaic  weapons  in  favor  of  modern  fire-arms,  he 
is  now  an  unmitigated  butcher. 

The  Kootenays  on  the  upper  Columbia  and  the  Stoneys  on  the 
east  face  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  Alberta,  are  game  mur- 
derers and  it  is  the  boast  of  the  latter  that  no  game  can  live 
where  they  hunt.  In  the  interest  of  game  protection  in  British 
Columbia,  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  enforcement  of 
stringent  laws  cannot  be  extended  to  the  Indians.  Curiously 
enough,  many  persons,  who  would  ordinarily  be  friendly  to  game 
protection,  have  become  so  interested  in  the  natives,  that  they 
advocate  hunting  privileges  for  Indians  which  they  deny  to  the 
white  man,  under  the  mistaken  impression  that  the  Indian  kills 
only  what  he  needs.  The  strange  delusion  has  recently  led  to 
an  attempt  by  a  benevolent  United  States  Senator  to  repeal  the 
game  lawrs  for  Alaska  and  leave  that  great  game  region  to  the 
mercv  of  the  native  and  meat  hunter. 


SALE   OF   GAME    HEADS. 

The  hunting  of  the  Stoney  Indians  has  been  somewhat  discour- 
aged by  a  wise  law  recently  enacted  in  the  Northwest  Provinces, 
prohibiting  the  sale  of  game  heads.  This  law  is  especially  bene- 
ficial to  sheep,  since  the  demand  for  heads  of  large  rams  has  been 
steadily  increasing.  Oreamnos  has  not  suffered  greatly  from 
head  hunting,  as  its  horns  do  not  offer  much  of  a  trophy  except 


34  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

when  needed  to  complete  a  collection  of  American  game  animals. 
The  marketing  of  game  heads  cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned 
by  genuine  hunters  and  by  those  interested  in  the  protection  of 
wild  animal  life. 

INTRODUCTION    OF    FOREIGN    ANIMALS. 

In  this  connection  a  word  should  be  said  about  a  proposition 
to  establish  chamois  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Efforts  to  intro- 
duce European  game,  instead  of  protecting  the  native  Ameri- 
can animals,  are  constantly  cropping  out.  Why  anyone  should 
prefer  a  chamois  to  the  far  finer  native  animal  is  somewhat  of  a 
mystery.  Nature  has  provided  for  every  portion  of  our  country, 
mammals,  birds  and  fish  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  locality, 
and  the  introduction  of .  foreign  animals  simply  means,  in  case 
they  survive,  the  crowding  out  of  some  native  form. 

In  the  East  the  mountain  goat  never  can  be  more  than  an  object 
of  temporary  curiosity,  as  he  cannot  long  survive  the  rigors  of 
our  Atlantic  summer.  A  number  of  .young  goat  have  been  cap- 
tured in  British  Columbia  for  exhibition  in  the  New  York  Zoo- 
logical Park,  but  while  very  docile,  and  taking  readily  to  the 
milk  of  domestic  ewes,  they  all  died  before  shipment  except  the 
four  now  on  exhibition  at  the  Park.  The  proper  place  for  the 
exhibition  and  breeding  of  mountain  goat  is  in  the  Canadian 
National  Park  at  Banff,  Alberta,  where  there  is  an  unsurpassed 
opportunity  to  secure  and  breed  not  only  goat,  but  also  mountain 
sheep,  bison  and  even  moose  in  their  native  environment. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 

The  writer  desires  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  for  as- 
sistance in  the  preparation  of  the  above  article  to  Mr.  Charles 
Arthur  Moore,  Jr.,  to  Mr.  Andrew  J.  Stone,  to  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen, 
to  Mr.  Charles  H.  Townsend,  to  Mr.  Wilfrid  H.  Osgood,  and  to 
members  of  the  Geological  Survey,  notably  Mr.  A.  H.  Sylvester. 


NINTH    ANNUAL    REPORT.  35 


MEASUREMENTS. 

Four  goat  killed  in  the  Schesley  Mountains  of  British  Colum- 
bia, in  August,  1902,  and  measured  with  extreme  accuracy,  ran  as 

foll°WS:  No.  43-  No.  44-  No.  57.     No.  60. 

inches  inches  inches         inches 
Total  length,  end  of  nose  to  end 

of  tail  vertebra 61               65  57  66 

Tail  vertebra 7                 8  6 

Tarsus 13^           14  13 

Height  at  shoulder 4-Q/4           39  36  43 

No.  57  was  about  a  half-grown  animal. 

No,  60  was  the  largest  specimen  and  its  estimated  weight  was 
over  400  pounds. 

Detail  measurements  in  millimeters  of  No..  6p  *  are  as  follows : 

End  of  nose  to  lower  corner  of  right  eye 220 

End  of  nose  to  base  of  ear 297 

End  of  nose  to  base  of  right  horn 265 

Width  of  head  just  over  eyes 147 

Width  of  nose  above  nostril 65 

Width  of  nostril. : 81 

Greatest  depth  of  head 193 

Depth  of  nose 156 

Depth  of  chin 119 

Between  the . eyes no 

Circumference  of  horn  at  base 153 

Length  of  horn 260 

Width  between  point  of  horns 210 

Length  of  ear 150 

Width  of  ear 65 

Length  of  beard no 

Length  of  front  foot 83 

Width  of  front  foot 72 

Extreme  width  of  clew  claws  outside 80 

Length  of  front  of  front  hoof 52 

Hind  foot,  length „  71 

Hind  foot,  width 72 

Length  of  dew  claw 52 

Width  of  dew  claws 34 

*  No.  60  is  goat  shown  on  page  10. 


36  NEW    YORK    ZOOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


MEASUREMENTS  OF    MOUNTAIN    GOAT   HORNS   IN   INCHES. 

Four  large  specimens  in  the  United  States  National  Museum, 
Washington,  D.  C,  selected  and  measured  by  Madison  Grant  on 
February  4,  1905,  gave  the  following  dimensions : 

Right.  Left. 

6*    10  9^  Lake  Chelan,  Washington. 

2     8^  8j£ 

$     8^6  8%  Sawtooth  Mountains,  Idaho. 


Fifteen  specimens  in  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, New  York  City,  were  measured  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen,  with  the 
following  result: 

Right.  Left.   Spread. 

J5752  -         1%  1%     4^   O.  m.missoulcz,      Missoula,  Montana. 

22694  $        9  91/16  4^    "    " 

22695  *        9*4  %s/8     4^    "    " 
19335    <?        9 

19337  2  9I3/i6  93A  4j/s  "  " 

19836  o"jnr.y3/l6  8^  6^  "  "  columbianus,  Schesley  Mts.,  B.  C. 

19837  $  g/s  "  "  "  " 

19838  $  97/3  10  S/s  "  " 

19839  <?  9/8  &J/8  5  "  "  ^  "        •  "  "  " 
19858  2  8^  8^  5^  "  "  "  "  " 
21504  2  9^i  9  4^  "  "  "             Main  Rockies,  "  " 

2I5°5   2  9jA  9jA  5  ''  u 

21506  —  7^  7^  4^  "  " 

Mt. 

*Head<?  10^  io3/l6  4^  "  '; 

fMt.     <?  9^  9^8  6%  "  " 

*  Head  shown  on  page  26,  property  of  Madison  Grant, 
f  Property  of  Charles  Arthur  Moore,  Jr. 


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